> It doesn't prevent the effort of coding the solution, just moves it down the line and makes it harder.
What is harder about using a OCR app and calling the Airtable API to get the expenses compared to writing all the code to take photos, scan for text, and then upload to Airtable or even a SQL DB?
The harder part is that when you have to write the code, it's because your existing business relies on it, and you have interfaces defined by other systems.
So, to take the example: you set up the expenses handling with no code, it's easy, all good. Then halfway through next year, the OCR app starts charging $1 per scan (as a hypothetical). Now you have to write some code. But your accountant is waiting for your receipts, so you have a deadline for the coding. And your code has to use the Airtable API, because that's where the rest of your process takes off. That API might be a lot harder to use than, say, SQLite, which would be your choice if you were coding the system from scratch.
So the code you have to write has constraints from the rest of the process that still works, and a deadline. So it's harder to write.
Some workflow never get to the point you need to replace them, in which case using a no-code solution is a huge win.
Often, it is good enough, when the no-code solution has some flaws, but not enough to justify a rewrite.
And some workflows utterly needs to be rewritten, because of various reasons (change in pricing of the provider, new feature that's not possible in no-code, bug in the no-code solution, scaling issue).
What is harder about using a OCR app and calling the Airtable API to get the expenses compared to writing all the code to take photos, scan for text, and then upload to Airtable or even a SQL DB?